by liberal japonicus
This story is kind of big here.
Senior Japanese politicians have urged the Tokyo city government to "clean up its act" after an assemblywoman was subjected to sexist abuse during a debate on support for childrearing.
The incident drew criticism from across the political spectrum after unidentified male assembly members, all thought to belong to the conservative Liberal Democratic party (LDP), shouted abuse at Ayaka Shiomura as she questioned the city administration's commitment to helping pregnant women and young mothers, as Japan attempts to tackle its low birthrate.
One shouted: "You're the one who should get married as soon as possible." Another asked if she was able to have children, prompting laughter among other male councillors.
Colleagues of Shiomura, a 35-year-old member of the centre-right Your party, demanded that the hecklers be identified and punished. The LDP's Tokyo chapter did not deny the remarks were made but said there was insufficient evidence to punish individual councillors.
This WSJ interview with the assembly member harassed, Ayaka Shiomura, is worth a read.
It's really quite difficult for me to imagine the kind of lack of decorum (on the other hand, the behavior known as inemuri is much more common) My own feeling is that when you see this kind of crap that the Tokyo Assembly LDP party members serve up, it's a sign that things are changing and men like this are feeling like they need to assert themselves. At least I hope. Talk about this or whatever.
It's not a bad rule of thumb that, when members of one group (especially a group that has been relatively powerful) start making this kind of attack, it is for one reason. They are losing their stranglehold, they know they are losing it, and are afraid.
It doesn't really matter whether we are talking about Japanese male politicians, whites in the old south, religious conservatives in the Arabic world today, or your garden-variety playground bully. They lash out because they know they are losing, or even have already lost, the war. All they can do is fight one last battle and go out in a blaze of (as they see it) glory.
Posted by: wj | June 21, 2014 at 01:59 PM
Tangentially related, but maybe not quite on point (and since this is an open thread), there was this in The New York Times today. It's an incredibly important point of view, IMHO. The article opens like this:
When I was practicing law, a long time ago, I did a lot of divorce work, and saw the "single-parent stigma" first-hand. That's why it galls me so much to see the tired conventional wisdom that is trotted out so frequently about single-parent families being the basis for all social ills. This came up in the reparations and "should we blame black culture" discussion we had not long ago.
I was going to rant further, but I'll leave it there for now.
Posted by: sapient | June 21, 2014 at 06:24 PM
Taking this Open Thread in a different direction (because I am too impatient to wait for Friday):
Did you all pick up on the Supreme Court's ruling that police may not search cell phones of those arrested without getting a warrant first? Unanimously -- which tells you something about how clear the issue was.
Sometimes, the system looks like it actually works.
Posted by: wj | June 25, 2014 at 11:14 AM
also, in the news, Boehner says he's gonna sue Obama, but that it's not impeachment.
philosophers' soccer!
Posted by: cleek | June 25, 2014 at 01:18 PM
remember, way back when, when we had a discussion about "conservatives" being actively hostile to conservation and efforts to fight pollution? a lot of it was about LED and CFL light bulbs.
hey look, "conservatiev" actively pollute in order to piss off liberals.
because they're conservative
Posted by: cleek | June 26, 2014 at 12:26 PM